The Worst Banks in America

America's 10 Worst Banks

Forbes turned to Charlottesville, Va., research firm SNL for data to gauge the health of the 100 largest banks and thrifts. SNL supplied them with numbers for eight measures of financial health: return on average equity; net interest margin; nonperforming loans (NPLs)as a percentage of loans; nonperforming assets as percentage of assets; reserves as a percentage of NPLs; two capital ratios (Tier 1 and risk-based); and leverage ratio.

Forbes ranked the banks on each metric and averaged the individual ranks to determine an overall ranking of the best and worst banks.

Read on for a look at the ten worst banks on the list, starting with No. 100.

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The Worst Banks ... Forbes turned to Charlottesville, Va., research firm SNL for data to gauge the health of the 100 largest banks and thrifts. SNL supplied them with numbers for eight measures of financial health: return on average equity; net interest margin; nonperforming loans (NPLs)as a percentage of loans; nonperforming assets as percentage of assets; reserves as a percentage of NPLs; two capital ratios (Tier 1 and risk-based); and leverage ratio.

Forbes ranked the banks on each metric and averaged the individual ranks to determine an overall ranking of the best and worst banks.

Read on for a look at the ten worst banks on the list, starting with No. 100.

(iStock Photo)
100. Wilmington ... Headquarters: Wilmington, Del.
Assets: $10.5 billion
Price/Book: 0.5
NPLs/Loans: 12.4 percent
Reserves/NPLs: 50 percent
Nonperforming assets as a percentage of total assets were 9.9 percent in the third quarter, the worst of any big bank. Its Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 9.2 percent is also at the bottom.

(Photo: Forbes)
99. First BanCor... Headquarters: Santurce, Puerto Rico
Assets: $16.7 billion
Price/Book: 0.1
NPLs/Loans: 12.7 percent
Reserves/NPLs: 38 percent
Wall Street is not a fan, with First BanCorp's stock price down 84 percent during the past year.

(Photo: Forbes)
98. Pacific Capi... Headquarters: Santa Barbara, Calif.
Assets: $6.3 billion
Price/Book: 1.4
NPLs/Loans: 13.9 percent
Reserves/NPLs: 0 percent
The company announced a $500 million investment in August that dropped reserves (allowance for loan and lease losses) to $55,000 from $277 million in the second quarter.

(Photo: Forbes)
97. Doral Financ... Headquarters: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Assets: $9.1 billion
Price/Book: 0.3
NPLs/Loans: 12.5 percent
Reserves/NPLs: 16 percent
Doral's reserves as a percentage of nonperforming loans are the second-worst of the biggest banks.

(Photo: Forbes)
96. Private Banc... Headquarters: Chicago, Ill.
Assets: $12.6 billion
Price/Book: 1.0
NPLs/Loans: 4.2 percent
Reserves/NPLs: 60 percent
The stock has bounced back this year, up 63 percent after falling 72 percent in 2009, when bad loan provisions soared. The bank ranked in the bottom 40 percent of each of the eight metrics we considered.

(Photo: Forbes)
95. Sterling Fin... Headquarters: Spokane, Wash.
Assets: $10 billion
Price/Book: 0.2
NPLs/Loans: 12.4 percent
Reserves/NPLs: 32 percent
Sterling has reported huge losses over the past two years, resulting in the worst return on average equity among the 100 largest banks.

(Photo: Forbes)
94. Marshall & I... Headquarters: Milwaukee, Wisc.
Assets: $52 billion
Price/Book: 0.5
NPLs/Loans: 4.0 percent
Reserves/NPLs: 86 percent
Marshall & Ilsley is the 20th-largest bank in the U.S., but its return on average equity over the past 12 months has been the worst of those banks. Last week its board agreed for the bank to be acquired by Bank of Montreal for $4.1 billion.

(Photo: Forbes)
93. Synovus Fina... Headquarters: Columbus, Ga.
Assets: $31 billion
Price/Book: 0.8
NPLs/Loans: 5.9 percent
Reserves/NPLs: 61 percent
Synovus announced in March that the SEC was conducting an "informal inquiry" into possible violations of federal securities laws.

(Photo: Forbes)
92. Flagstar Ban... Headquarters: Troy, Mich.
Assets: $13.8 billion
Price/Book: 0.2
NPLs/Loans: 7.5 percent
Reserves/NPLs: 47 percent
Flagstar's stock has taken it on the chin, down 76 percent over the past 12 months.

(Photo: Forbes)
91. Whitney Hold... Headquarters: New Orleans, La.
Assets: $11.5 billion
Price/Book: 0.8
NPLs/Loans: 5.9 percent
Reserves/NPLs: 49 percent
The weak Florida real estate market has hurt Whitney, as its nonperforming assets and loans are among the highest in the U.S.

(Photo: Forbes)
The Best Banks You've seen the worst banks .Now see Forbes' best-ranked banks here.

(Photos: Forbes)